Heyyyyyyyy, you doing okay? I shall bless you with my warming kisses

[I really dunno who this guy is, but this is Luci, Mia's brother] from Pinterest :)

On with the chapter...

************

✨Emilia POV

My entire weekend was spent harrowing over bitter, dark chocolate and vanilla ice cream, too bad it wasn't cold enough to numb me completely.

Cassidy tried to speak to me about my brothers but I could never. I would talk to them eventually, but most certainly not now.

I'm just so lonely, and I need someone there with me; I'm trapped at the bottom of the well, surrounded by the darkness. It's the nothingness that I fear the most.

And Christmas, it was tomorrow and I'm still sat here shivering in cold sweats trying to out my mind to an abrupt pause. I hated cold sweats, it's just like sweating but you're cold.

Christmas just sounded so depressing to me right now; nothing great about it. It's a time for family to come together, but it seems like I was just drifting away from them like I never existed.

"C-can I speak to someone? You don't mind if I make a call do you...?" I surprise Cassidy with the frosty words spewing from my mouth.

"Oh...yes...sure...go ahead...I'll just leave," he stammers, falling over his sputtery words.

He leaves me to my privacy as I unlock my phone and press the call button to someone I know I can always rely on.

Mia.

It takes a few tries before she picks up the phone sounding stressed and worried, but then there's a sigh in relief. She was happy to hear me, and I couldn't be anymore ecstatic and hat someone cares for me.

M-Mia?"

"Oh Emilia! Where have you been? We-I have been worried about you!"

"Just away for a little, but I need to talk you seriously for a moment, can you make sure you're alone...I don't want anyone else hearing this," I lower my voice and peep around the kitchen to ensure Cassidy wasn't listening in. Then I need to remember that he isn't like that; he respects me in so many ways my "brothers" couldn't compete.

"Suuure, is everything okay though? You're brother, Axel, asked me to come in contact with you just a moment ago- what?" She whispers at the end almost like she was hitting someone too.

"No, everything isn't okay, you sent me to my brothers because you claimed it would be better for me but... I can't help but despise it here. They're keeping something from me, and when I tell you I'm an inch close to finding out what," I separate my thumb and index to measure an inch.

"Oh," she says before a crashing sound come from her phone line.

"Sorry about that, somebody just knocked something over," she adds an extra emphasis on 'somebody.'

Weird . . .

"What was it you needed to tell me?" She asks with a hushed tone, she was with somebody when I asked that no one heard this.

"Umm never mind, I was being stupid and just wanted to talk to you. Bye." I didn't give her time to reply, and I wasn't angry, I was frustrated and wanted things to go back to the way they were.

I sunk to my knees and launch my phone to the opposite wall, watching and glass sprints away from the phone. It continued to bounce on its corners until it was face down.

"ARGHHHHHHH!!" I scream, thrashing my anger and transferring it to the pillows which I was trying to tear apart. I even brought the pillow up to my face and whacking myself with it.

Blood rushes to my face when I hold my breath and continuously plummet my face into to pillow until I feel as though my skin could pop with a needle.

Jumping. Punching. Biting. I was still trying to disintegrate this pillow like it would pop from my hands at any moment. That's when two hands pull me by the waist away from the pillow.

His arms were secured tightly around my entire torso meanwhile I'm still thrashing and wriggling to get free. I tried to clamp my hand down on his hands but I couldn't bend down far enough.

"Em, stop," he lets me go but trips me up again when he pulls my ankles up to his chest so I was hanging up side down in mid air.

"Cassidy...let...me...go!" I try to raise the upper part of my body to fondle with his hands as a pathetic attempt to release me, but of course it didn't freaking work.

This was like a sit up, but bigger and more extreme because this time I was floating in the air by a man who clearly had the strength of a beast.

"Like I said before, the anger of Blade will never dissolve in you," he tuts clasping into my ankles even more.

"Don't compare me to that...loathsome, wh0re!" I raise my fist and pound it into his chest but he didn't even wince.

"Emilia, I love you and everything but you're going home and sorting this unnecessary conflict with your family. Now."

He lowers my body to the ground but his hands still don't release me, instead he drags me over to the door and and shuts it behind us. That's okay, I'll just chill out here in my Aladdin pyjamas They're getting soaked and drenched by the seconds as you take me home.

Gotta love that.

"CASSIDY MONROE! I command you at once, let me go and I'll reconsider shopping your fingers off with my teeth!!" I demand him, he just throws a worried look over his shoulder and tightens his grip on my ankles still dragging me along.

My entire back and butt was sodden with the wet climate, and Cassidy dragging me along the rough, jutted concrete wasn't helping either; it felt like he was going to rip my clothes apart.

I hated procrastination, whatever he was going to do it was might as well do it now, I've lost everything so nothing can really hurt me now.

"I'm sorry-

"Don't."

"Emilia-

"Don't."

"Look-

"Don't."

"Em-

"Don't."

"I'm-

"Shush."

"Can I speak?"

"No."

"EMILIA!"

"What? You wanna hear it in Spanish? Noh!"

"Let. Me. Speak. Please," he waits up for a moment thinking I'm going to interrupt him, "I'm taking you home-

My eyes stab him in the back, feeling irked and provoked by his statement.

"No shit Sherlock," I roll my eyes with my arms wrapped around my cold, soggy body.

"Emilia...I'm losing my patience. Listen to me please, whatever is going on with you and your brothers, it needs figuring out, then we can go back home. You've been sulking all weekend and I don't want to spend tomorrow with a broody teen, I'd rather eat luxurious beef and pork and your brothers' house and enjoy Christmas!!" He takes deep, shallow breaths catching up with his words.

"Fine."

It doesn't mean I'll talk to them though, we can stay there all day and night but I will not murmur a small sound.

I'm not sure if I've hated anyone more than my so called 'family.' Family means trust, and loyalty even when things get tough, it means you love each other through hell; but this was different. It was as though I was so close to finding out a huge secret they'd been hiding from.

It saddens me that I was unable to forget about them, I do know that deep down inside of me, my love still lies in there.

I just need to find out more.

**********

"Emilia, stand up please," Cassidy says in a small voice whilst hammering his fist into the gigantic, front doors.

"Why would you take me here, I trusted you," my voice shattered quicker than a glass.

I'm guessing I was hoping that he would be my saviour and not take me to place of my nightmares.

"Please don't cry; I'm so sorry, but I've been caught in the middle of your family's conflict, it really isn't fair," he bends downs, pressing one knee to the tiled floor.

"You promise you'll stay with me?" I look him through glossy eyes, he smiles a nods taking my dirty hands in his.

He wraps a pinkie around mine, shaking our hands together.

"Hello- oh...umm...hi? Uhhh...what's- hey?" Diego's voice fused with confusion and shock. He wasn't the only one speechless, he had a purple eye and many cuts along his jaw and chin. They were healing though, but they were chunky scabs.

What happened to him? He looks worse than a pig rolled in dirt.

"Uhh, hey, D. How you doing?" Cassidy asks while I hide behind him, he was a shield for me. My hands clutched onto his shirt with my face pressed into the crevices of his back.

"Great...why're you here?"

"I have a package for you," Cassidy moves post-haste to the side, exposing me in front of the stranger I call my brother.

"Emilia, I'm so sorry," he takes a step into swallowing me with his arms, I don't hesitate to stagger back.

A sudden pinch came to my shoulder. Cassidy stands there like he didn't do anything, with a gleaming smile casted on his face.

My fingers rub the area carelessly, almost scratching to relieve the irritation.

"Emilia, please come in," a strange man gestures, well hello there handsome. He really was the best thing to come to sight.

"Who're you? Forgive me if I sound rude..." I step closer holding my palm out waiting for our hands to connect, I forgot Diego and Cassidy existed for a moment, he was truly mesmerising.

I. Am. Not. Crushing. I won't, I shall not, never.

"Luci... I'm Mia's brother who's come to see her for a while. She's in the kitchen if you'd like to speak to her," he shakes my hand enthusiastically, kissing it slightly. I've been kissed by an angel. Holy mama.

He kissed my hand. He kissed me. He kissed my hand. I am way too young to be fan girling over a man I've only just met. But his eyes...I was drowning in them. A rich, golden brown encrusted with specks of yellow. Beautiful.

His plump, pink lips remained on my hands as he looks at me through his patting lashes.

"Well, it's a pleasure to be an acquaintance, Luci," I mumble feeling slightly embarrassed, a warmth spread to my

"Same here. Please, do come in," I shove myself past Diego and follow Luci inside feeling confident, his kiss really did boost my ego. An entire chamber of pride pursued my confidence.

He must've been taller than Alessandro at least, but that wasn't what caught my eye, it was his love for tattoos that were scattered across his neck and arms, they only poked a little out of his collar and the cuffs to his black shirt.

When we walk into the kitchen, I see Valentina with a Christmas themed apron on pulling a pumpkin pie from the oven along with the drool worthy cinnamon rolls. My mouth watered and my tastebuds tingled.

"Ahh, Emilia! You're here!!" Valentina plants kisses across my face and squeezes me hard until I beg for air.

"Missed you too," I laugh but it darkens when I see the devil himself enter the room.

"Oh."

"Oh," I repeat after him. Seeing his familiar face made me feel a little guilty for the way I've acted in the past week or two.

"Oh indeed."

"Yes...oh."

"I'll be back," Alessandro exists in a quick speed and I feel a sign of relief coarse my body. His sniffles was all that could be heard, was he sick or something?

Valentina tuts at me and shakes her head disapprovingly. She frowns looking away from me. Luci on the other hand was just staring in awe at the scrumptious food displayed in front of him.

"He's been crying. He misses you," is all she says before she scavenges through the fridge for butter.

"I don't care if he's been crying, he deserves it," my brows crease into one, that's when I realise there is one person whom I'd like to have a special chat to.

And I know exactly where he is.

***********

"You. Piece. Of. Shit! How. Dare. You!" I sit on Blade's back in the gym, plummeting my hands into his bare back hoping he feels my rage.

"I. HATE. YOU!!" my hands eventually because tired all I start jumping on his back multiple times until he groans and pushes me away.

My screams take over the low beats to the music he was listening too during his work out. You could say his music taste was as crap as my nursery portrait of myself.

"You screwed me up! All of you did!! Is there something you need to tell me?! Or do I need to kick you again?!" I pull my foot back as far as I can and whack it into his side hearing a crack of my big toe.

Nothing even hurt me at this point, I was so furious that pain didn't even phase me. Though the emotional strain on my mind was pressurising against my emotions, that's the only pain I could feel.

"It's all in your head, Mila."

He disgusts me. Really he does, I am the way I am because of this place. It'd be a thrill to escape it some time.

"Don't make me out to be crazy, I am the way I am for the way you guys treated me the past few months, like I was nothing more than a banana peel!" I raise my voice at the audacity he has.

"Really? I'd say we treat you with nothing but respect. We all treated you like a Queen, you just disowned us as your brothers for Cassidy," he rubs the back of his neck standing up to his vast height.

"Jealous are we?"

"Never," he spits with such acerbity.

"Yes you're! Why? Because he cares enough to ask me how I am? It fascinates me really, how you see yourselves as Gods when really you're nothing more than a cowards," I glance him up and down gagging.

"Coward? I don't think so, I'm the strongest man you'll ever encounter," he arches a smile.

"When pigs fly!" I snort...ironically like a pig.

"Let's see if you can fly then shall we?" He tries to grab me but instead, he pressed me against the wall with a hand clasped to my throat blocking my airways. Is he suggesting I'm a pig? Keep talking buddy.

"You gonna kill me? That's weak."

He grits his teeth together growing at me, his grip tightened and loosened occasionally. Though it burned when I'd try to breathe so much.

"Yeah?" He raises his hand until I'm hanging in the air with my legs thrashing and kicking him everywhere; they whip through the glacial air.

"You can't kill me if I've already died," I croak out with every last breathe I had.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" He releases me but when I catch my breath he doesn't stop to thrust my shoulders into the walls.

"I've taken a road trip through death and hell, and yet I still haven't found a way out," I cough, feeling mucus attack my throat.

"Nice metaphor, now get the fûck out of my face before I really do something I will never forget," he grits, nose almost touching mine.

"I'd love to see the day you suffer," I say, annihilation taking over. His mouth rigs into a wicked and sinister smirk.

Taking the towel that rests on the floor, he pats the sweat off his face off and wraps the rough fabric around his neck exiting the room.

His chuckles made me furious, they echoed all the way down the hall where a sharp bang was slicing the air. Count that to the number of doors he's broken.

*********

My body didn't move a muscle; I'd stayed in the gym the entire time throwing gym balls at the wall. When they smacked me back in the face, I was more keen on launching the ball more until I was deeply satisfied.

But hours passed and I was still frustrated with Blade. I should walk up to him and hit him. His face had a target in that I wanted to beat until he could no longer breathe. I wanted him to feel terrible about himself just like I have for the past year. He's gonna be paying more for the way he's treated me than a pair of jeans.

That's exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm never gonna be satisfied until I hit him, I want him to feel my pain for the past year.

My journey begins by barging his room door open - I was at the peak of my tantrum - but he wasn't there; my first instincts were to wreck his room.

My hands fumbled with the heavy mattress and duvet covers, then I swipe his desk clear of all of the expensive that live on his oak wood desk. Laptops, clocks, 'paperwork' and more.

I tear the '1975' posters from the wall, and empty his sock draws and pant draw kicking them all over the room. My actions don't stop there, fiercely, I pour the mouldy cup of coffee that was freezing, all over the carpets and papers that I had scattered across the floors. Even bending down on my knees, I rub the old coffee into the carpets making sure to leave a stain.

Clutching the controller in my sticky hand hard, I raise my arms above my head, pointing my target with the other, I swing back and crack the window just like I did before.

I watch, not even regretting my actions, as the controller flies through the air, slicing and dicing it into small molecules. The glass pierces with the shattering delicacy cursing in my ears.

Many pieces rain outside as some scatter across the soft terrain of his carpet.

"Emilia?" A soft voice asks me, breathing hastily, I turn around holding my hands away from my sides so I don't get the sticky substance on my ruined clothes. There was no point really, they were already torn in some places and drenched wet.

My sharp, luminous eyes darts to the door looking as guilty as ever; three pairs of eyes stare dive into my soul.

It was my three, dear, elder brothers who stare at me with bewilderment, Axel looking like he may burst into tears at any moment.

"What's going on?" The same face I wanted to punch earlier, peeps over Elijah's shoulder smirking and laughing.

"I wouldn't be laughing, this is your room," Alessandro tells him, he seems angry but also relieved for a moment.

"Let her, it doesn't bother me," he shrugs still smirking.

"Why're you smirking!" I push through my brothers and rag at his shirt until he pushes me off to the ground.

"Because...she's throwing a tantrum, why wouldn't that be entertaining to me?" He begins by kicking the many clocks that are displayed to us, on the ground.

"You aren't angry?" Axel asks surprisingly.

"Meh. She's pathetic anyways, this is nothing a couple of grand can't fix. You tried sis, but failed tremendously. A for effort though," he sympathises with jest.

"Well, if you want me to be honest, I'm not mad, I'm furious that not only you destroyed my room but my entire life, I hope you feel guilty. As angry as I am right now, I shouldn't rise to your actions, instead I'll laugh at you," and so he does, his deep cackles enrage me with fire.

"Stop laughing at me!!" I scream, folding my head in the crevice of my arms. That is, when a large palm gently rubs my arm making me look up to meet their eyes.

Axel, his tall height lowers to present himself in front of me, his sad smile makes my eyes well with water.

"I'm sorry," his embrace comforts me deeply,